Room heater with vented circulation



June 7, 1966 M. A. TUTTLE 3,254,642

ROOM HEATER WITH VENTED CIRCULATION Filed March 22. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l A TWP/V431 June 7, 1966 A, Tl JTTLE 3,254,642

ROOM HEATER WITH VENTED CIRCULATION Filed March 22. 1965 2 SheetsSheet 2 ATTOF/Vf) United States Patent ()fi ice 3,254,642 ROOM HEATER WITH VENTED CIRCULATION Milton A. Tuttle, Culver City, Calif.

(2425 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, Calif.) Filed Mar. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 441,630 2 Claims. (Cl. 126-116) This invention relates to a room heater with vented circulation.

An object of the present invention is to provide a room heater with an elevated hearth for supporting a gas-burning, log-simulating unit which draws ambient air through an opening directly above said hearth for supporting the gas flame of said unit, the heater providing protection from the front while affording full visibility of the gasburning unit through a transparent area above said open- Another object of the invention is to provide a vented circulating room heater, as above characterized, that utilizes the heat of the gas-burning unit for additionally heating the air of a room by circulating the same through inner passages of the heater, a heat exchange being elfected between the flow of the burnt gases to a vent outside the room and said recirculated room air.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heater of the character indicated that produces an up-draft flow of air taken from the room being heated, thereby drawing the cooler air at the floor of the room for recirculation through the heater and discharge at the ceiling of the room.

This invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The above objects are realized in a room heater structure that comprises a, hearth, outer housing, and heating element, all formed of sheet steel or other suitable sheet metal, the hearth being elevated from the flo'or of a room in which installed, and the housing and heating element, as well as a gas-burning, log-simulating unit, being mounted on or connected to said hearth. The heating element has a full-width front opening immediately above the hearth and transparent protecting panel above said opening, said opening and panel, together, providing for full visibility of the gas-burning unit, partly through said opening but mainly through the panel. The housing has a front opening in which said opening in the heating element and the transparent panel are framed.

The gas-burning unit is housed in the lower portion of the heating element, the gases of combustion thereof rising toward a vent to the outside, baflie and hoodmeans being interposed in this up-draft'fiow of hot gases to retard the same to, thereby, heat the walls of the heating element.

An air-circulation space is provided between the outer housing and the heating element. The former and the hearth are provided with' openings through which air,

In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken, of a room heater according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of said heater taken on a plane parallel to the plane of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view as taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a an enlarged and broken cross-sectional view of the upper left portion of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a partly broken front elevational view of said heater.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the upper portion of the heater taken on a plane parallel to the plane of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view as taken on the line 77 of FIG. 5, the gas-burning unit, shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, being omitted.

The room heater that is illustrated comprises, generally, a hearth assembly 10, an outer housing or jacket 11 mounted on said hearth, a heating element 12 housed within the jacket and also mounted on said hearth, a gasburning, log-simulating unit 13 disposed on the hearth within the confines of the lower portion of the heating element, and a vent pipe 14 extending from the upper end of the heating element and adapted to pass through suitable openings in a ceiling and roof to a vent fitting.

The above generally described room heater is adapted to have its hearth 10 secured to a wall 15 of a room as by an angle 16 and to be supported from the floor 17, as indicated in FIG. 5, and its jacket 11 to said wall 15 by means of any suitable bracket, angle, channel or clip 18 between the wall and an upper portion of the jacket.

The hearth assembly 10 comprises two transversely spaced support walls 20 that are fastened at their upper ends to the base 21 of the hearth assembly. The latter, adjacent its rear edge, is provided with air intake openings 22, as shown-in FIG. 7. As will be clear later, said openings 22 discharge air, from beneath the hearth base 21, into the interior of the jacket 11.

The jacket 11 comprises an upwardly and rearwardly sloping front wall 23 that tapers toward the top, as shown in FIG. 5, side walls 24 that are joined by crimps 25 (FIG. 4) to the longitudinal edges of the front wall, and a rear wall 26. The walls 23, 24 and 26 terminate at an upper end edge 27 that is preferably spaced below the room ceiling 28 through which the vent pipe extends. In practice, a top trim unit 29, having front and side walls that are respective extensions of the jacket walls 23 and 24, may be usedto close the space between said edge 27 and the ceiling 28. As shown in FIG. 1, an access hole 30 may be provided in the upper end of one of the side walls 24. Said hole afford-s access .to the vent pipe 14 for installation and repair and is closed by a removable plate 31.

from the lower; portion of the room, enters said space.

Said air, by contact with the heated walls of the heating element, is heated and continues as an up-draft flow. The upper portion of the outer housing has openings that discharge said heated air into the upper portion of the room.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description and which is based on the accompanying drawings. However, said drawings merely show, and the following description merely describes, one embodiment of the present invention, which is given by way of illustration or example only.

The front wall 23 of said jacket 11, at its lower end, is provided with a hole-framing portion 32 that has a forward slope from the top of the hearth base 21. As can be seen in FIG. 5, said frame portion 32, although tapered according to the taper of the side edges of wall 23, is approximately as high as its mean width.

The side walls 24 of the jacket 11 are provided with a set of louvered openings '33 adjacent the bottom of the jacket, and a similar set of louvered openings 34 adjacent the upper edge of said jacket but below where the access hole 30 is provided. Said openings 33 and 34 communicate the room around the heater with the interior of the jacket.

The heating element 12 is centered in the jacket 11 and v comprises a housing that has a front wall 35 that tapers similarly to the wall 23 of the jacket 11 but is narrower Patented June 7, 1966 vered openings 34 after having been in contact with the heating element walls 35, 36 and 37.

An opening 39 in the lower end of wall 35 of the heating element substantially coincides with the hole framed by the portion 32 of the jacket and, itself, is fitted with a frame 40 that extends angularly forwardly through said jacket frame portion 32, as best shown in FIG. 2. A transparent panel 41 closes the front of the frame 40, leaving a relatively small opening 42 between the top of the hearth base 21 and an angle 43 that engages the lower edge of i said panel and locks the same in place in the frame 40. Said panel 41 occupies approximately two-thirds of the height of the opening in the frame 40.

The heating element 12 includes baffle walls 44 and 45 that are spaced from the respective walls 35, 36 and 37 so as to cause the upward flow of hot burnt gases of the unit 13 to be retarded and thereby have longer heating contact with said walls.

Said element 12 is provided with a top wall 46 from which upwardly extends a tube 47. A shield 48 is provided above and spaced from the top wall 46, said tube 47 extending therethrough.

The heating element 12 further includes a draft hood 49 which, as seen in FIG. 6, has bottom openings 5%) open to the space 38 and into which said tube 47 extends. Converging side walls 51 of said hood terminate at a collar 52 that extends upwardly through a transverse wall 53 that forms the top closure of said space 38. A flow diverting and retarding baffle 54 is provided in the upper portion of said hood. The hood 49, by means of its openings 50, enhances the up-draft in the space 38, a small portion of the air in said space being drawn into the vent pipe 14. This provides against discharge of combustion gases into the room.

The gas-burning, log-simulating unit 13 comprises a support frame 55 for a gas burner 56 and two ceramic log-simulating elements 57 and 58, one in front of the other with the burner 56 between them. Said burner, in the usual manner, produces flames from suitably spaced orifices, the same, by licking the elements 57 and 58, making it appear that said elements are burning. As shown, most of the unit 13 is disposed behind the transparent panel 41, leaving only the space 42 open to said unit to feed air thereto that supports the burners combustion.

It will be clear that the gases of combustion within the heating element will heat the walls of said element due to the flow-retarding effect of the described baffles and of a restrictor 60 at the end of tube 47, such heat setting up an upward heated air circulatioon, as hereinbefore described, in the space 38 and which discharges into the room. Thus, the gases of combustion are safely vented through the vent pipe 14 and the heat of said gases is utilized for effecting an exchange with the flow of air in space 38 to heat the same. This heated air is safely supplied to the room while the combustion gases are vented to the outside.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what is now contemplated to be the best mode of carrying out the invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not desired to restrict the invention to the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A room heater comprising:

(a) a hearth having a flat sheet metal base provided with rearwardly placed air intakes,

(b) a sheet metal outer jacket having front, side and rear walls extending upwardly from said hearth 'base, the interior of said jacket being open to the mentioned air intakes, Y

(c) upper and lower sets of louvered openings in the side walls of said jacket open to the interior thereof,

((1) said jacket having an opening in the front wall thereof with a frame enclosing the top and sides of said opening, said frame extending upwardly from the hearth base,

(e) a top wall for said jacket closing the interior space thereof from above,

(f) a heating element on said hearth base and enclosed within the interior of the jacket,

(g) said element comprising vertical, enclosing side and rear walls that are wholly spaced from the side and front walls of the jacket, and a front wall connected at the top to the front wall of the jacket and spaced from the latter front wall from its top toward the hearth base,

(h) a forwardly-extending frame at the lower end of the front wall of the heating element extending through the frame of the front wall of the jacket,

(i) a transparent pane across the frame of the heating element and closing the lower portion of the said front wall of the heating element with an opening forward of the front wall of the jacket between the hearth base and the lower edge of said pane, and

(j) a gas-burning unit on the hearth disposed to provide an upward fiow of the gases of combustion of said unit within the walls of the heating element to, thereby, heat the air within the jacket around the heating element.

2. A room heater according to claim 1 provided with a vent for the heating element that extends through the top wall of the jacket and means located in the jacket above the heater element and having openings therein communicating the interior of the jacket with the vent.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 4,807,014 5/1931 Sanford l26-90 1,942,936 1/1934 Rezuar 126-90 1,991,513 2/1935 Moore et al l2690 2,163,928 6/1939 Andrews 12690 2,716,976 9/1955 Pinatelli l26l 16 2,770,228 11/1956 Nordholt et a1. 1261 16 2,789,554 4/1957 Dupler 12690 JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A ROOM HEATER COMPRISING: (A) A HEARTH HAVING A FLAT SHEET METAL BASE PROVIDED WITH REARWARDLY PLACED AIR INTAKES, (B) A SHEET METAL OUTER JACKET HAVING FRONT, SIDE AND REAR WALLS EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID HEARTH BASE, THE INTERIOR OF SAID JACKET BEING OPEN TO THE MEMTIONED AIR INTAKES, (C) UPPER AND LOWER SETS OF LOUVERED OPENINGS IN THE SIDE WALLS OF SAID JACKET OPEN TO HE INTERIOR THEREOF, (D) SAID JACKET HAVING AN OPENING IN THE FRONT WALL THEREOF WITH A FRAME ENCLOSING THE TOP AND SIDES OF SAID OPENING, SAID FRAME EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE HEARTH BASE, (E) A TOP WALL FOR SAID JACKET CLOSING THE INTERIOR SPACE THEREOF FROM ABOVE, (F) A HEATING ELEMENT ON SAID HEARTH BASE AND ENCLOSED WITHIN THE INTERIOR OF THE JACKET, (G) SAID ELEMENT COMPRISING VERTICAL, ENCLOSING SIDE AND REAR WALLS THAT ARE WHOLLY SPACED FROM THE SIDE 